This relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly, to electronic devices with displays.
Electronic devices often include displays. For example, cellular telephones and portable computers often include displays for presenting information to a user.
Liquid crystal displays contain a layer of liquid crystal material. Pixels in a liquid crystal display contain thin-film transistors and pixel electrodes for applying electric fields to the liquid crystal material. The strength of the electric field in a pixel controls the polarization state of the liquid crystal material and thereby adjusts the brightness of the pixel.
Conventional liquid crystal displays typically exhibit a fixed viewing angle. For example, a user of the liquid crystal display may be able to view images on the display up to 45 degrees deviation from the normal viewing axis. In certain scenarios, however, it may be desirable to adjust and/or to reduce the viewing angle of the display. Existing solutions for reducing the viewing angle of liquid crystal displays involve use of an external privacy filter that needs to be mounted over the display. The use of external privacy filters or other types of external brightness adjustment films may, however, introduce unwanted reflections and glare and are often costly and unwieldy for the user to purchase and maintain.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide displays with built-in adjustable light output profiles.